Coleman wraps up get-to-know-you trip to Washington
by Mark Zdechlik, Minnesota Public Radio
November 15, 2002

After a meeting with Coleman, Minnesota's senior senator, Democrat Mark Dayton, said he looks forward to building a constructive relationship with (MPR Photo/Mark Zdechlik)

Sen.-elect Norm Coleman has had a busy few days in the nation's capital. On Thursday, he met with Minnesota's senior senator, Mark Dayton. He also met with interim Sen. Dean Barkley, attended a White House receptoin, a Republican Senate caucus meeting and a Pentagon security briefing.

Washington, DC —
You'd expect Norm Coleman to look tired following his whirlwind final push
for election, but Minnesota's senator elect is beaming with energy and his
trademark optimism.

"I'm still pinching myself to say 'how did I get here?'. You know this race
took such twists and turns and tragedy, and yet all said an done here I am and
part of a majority, a Republican majority, just part of a group I think
that's prepared to work very hard to produce not just for Minnesota certainly
my constituents, but for America," Coleman said.
Coleman says he doesn't know exactly what he'll attempt to specialize in in the
Senate. Coleman was elected St. Paul mayor promising to crack down on
crime. But his focus quickly shifted when he took office and it became
clear economic development needed his attention.

"Clearly jobs is a major issue here, but I'm also looking at health care as a
jobs issues, and health care as a committment to our seniors issue and health
care as a committment to small business and to baby boomers as an issue, the
cost of health care, the quality of health care. I'm not sure at this point
a lot of it will depend what opportunities I have in terms of committees," he said.

Coleman says he doesn't know what committee assignments he might land. He's
guardedly optimistic he can get a seat on the Agriculture Committee. After
initially talking about a spot on the Finance Committee, he seems now resigned
to the notion that's out of his freshman-status reach and is now looking more
toward a place on the Commerce Committee.

Although Coleman comes to the Senate on the bottom rung, he says his White
House ties bolster his standing along with all of the attention that was
focused on Minnesota's Senate race.

"I think I bring extra clout because of the relationship with the
administration - great relationship with the administration. I bring clout
because of the high profile of this race. There were a number of
representatives at the White House reception who came up to me and thanked me,
saying what we did in our race helped them in terms of getting their own
folks fired up. They though it had an impact in terms of their election," Coleman said.

But Coleman also says he and other incoming Republicans are acutely aware,
even though for the first time in nearly a half century the GOP controls
Congress and the White House, they can't be effective unless they compromise
with Democrats.

"There are no excuses for not getting it done and even in the Senate -- by the
way you really need 60 votes, not just 51 -- we may now control when things
come up, that's what having the power of the majority leader, the ability
to act on things but quite often you need 60 so you can't just do it
operating from your corner of the universe," he said.

After a meeting with Coleman, Minnesota's senior senator, Democrat Mark
Dayton, said he looks forward to building a constructive relationship with
the Republican. Dayton, who's known Coleman for 15 years, says Coleman's
communication skills will be valuable to the new senator.

"There's great deal of working together with people from the other side of
the aisle and Norm will be very good at that. He's a very good people person
and he certainly understands the political process. He'll do very well
here," Dayton said.

Coleman has also been meeting with interim Sen. Dean
Barkley, I-Minn., who has pledged to do whatever he can to help Coleman short of
stepping down right now. Barkley says he is open to leaving his Senate
appointment a few days early if that would help Coleman with seniority. Barkley
is also working to help some Coleman staff get a jumpstart on their work in
Washington, possibly by sharing some of his $500,000 interim
budget.

Coleman says Barkley's overtures are much appreciated and that he and Barkley
want simply to do that which will best benefit Minnesotans.

"This is going to be a very smooth transition. In fact, I think it will give me
a decided edge over many of my colleagues in that I'm going to hit the
ground running. When we do the transition, we'll have to finalize, but it's
a very, very smooth transition," he said.

For Coleman, going into the Senate will also mean significant personal
transitions. Coleman has already begun
trying to figure out where he'll live.

"I don't know if there are any bargains to be found in shopping
for apartments in Washington. The good news is that my family lives in New
York and New Jersey; it's not that far from here, so if I get someplace that's
not finished, I think I can take a truck down with some of the extra table and
chairs that my mother and sisters might have. These are the practical things
that you've got to deal with."

There's also the matter of Coleman's family. He says for the foreseeable future they'll remain in St. Paul.

"I've got a son who's 16, he's in 11th grade and I don't want to take him
away from his classmates and his friends, so I'm going to have to commute. My
daughter's 12, so a little more flexibility there but I clearly for a year
and a half I will have to be a commuter, have an apartment in Washington, but my
family will be in St. Paul," he said.

Although Coleman won't likely been sworn in until early January, he plans
to be back and forth between Minnesota and Washington during the
transition period.